The Swiss people are the citizens of the multi-ethnic Swiss Confederation (Switzerland) regardless of ethno-cultural background or people of self-identified Swiss ancestry.
Official photo of the Federal Council (2008), idealized depiction of a multi-ethnic Swiss society.
Farmers of Champery, Valais (1904 photograph)
Landsgemeinde by Wilhelm Balmer and Albert Welti (1907–1914); an idealized National Romantic depiction of Swiss population and society.
Man and woman of Entlebuch (Gabriel Lory, early 19th century)
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Alps and the Jura; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's population of 9 million are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts its largest cities and economic centres, including Zürich, Geneva, and Basel.
Founded in 44 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, Augusta Raurica (near Basel) was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is now among the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland.
The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 (dark green) to the sixteenth century (light green) and its associates (blue). In the other colours shown are the subject territories.
The 1291 Bundesbrief (federal charter)
The Act of Mediation was Napoleon's attempt at a compromise between the Ancien Régime and a Republic.
